Humanities
Skip to main content Skip to main navigation menu Skip to site footer
  • Register
  • Login
  • Menu
  • Home
  • Current
  • Archives
  • Announcements
  • About
    • About the Journal
    • Submissions
    • Editorial Team
    • Privacy Statement
    • Contact
  • Register
  • Login

Journal of Education, Health and Sport

The impact of hypoxia on psychological and cognitive functioning in high-altitude climbers
  • Home
  • /
  • The impact of hypoxia on psychological and cognitive functioning in high-altitude climbers
  1. Home /
  2. Archives /
  3. Vol. 79 (2025) /
  4. Medical Sciences

The impact of hypoxia on psychological and cognitive functioning in high-altitude climbers

Authors

  • Wiktoria Zamirska Katowice Oncology Centre https://orcid.org/0009-0006-6520-1876
  • Nadia Hornig Independent Public Health Care Facility of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Administration in Katowice named after Sergeant Grzegorz Załoga, ul. Wita Stwosza 39-41 40-042 Katowice, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0001-3247-4660
  • Aleksandra Kołodziej Municipal Hospital No. 4 in Gliwice ul. Zygmunta Starego 20, 44-100 Gliwice, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0007-7322-3116
  • Aleksandra Cieplak University Clinical Center named after Prof. K. Gibiński, ul. Medyków 14, 40-514 Katowice, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0008-2700-5211
  • Zuzanna Czyżewicz Medical University of Silesia, ul. Poniatowskiego 15, 40-055 Katowice, Katowice, Poland https://orcid.org/0009-0005-8809-2708

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12775/JEHS.2025.79.58404

Keywords

hypoxia, high-altitude climbers, cognitive function, sport

Abstract

Introduction and purpose: This study aims to investigate the psychological and cognitive effects of hypoxia in high-altitude climbers, with a focus on specific psychological outcomes such as anxiety, hallucinations, and depression, and cognitive impairments, including memory deficits and impaired decision-making. The scope encompasses both acute and chronic exposure to high-altitude conditions, examining how hypoxia, in conjunction with environmental stressors such as cold, isolation, and physical exertion, impacts neurological function. The research seeks to elucidate the underlying mechanisms, including hypoxia-induced changes in cerebral oxygenation, neurotransmitter activity, and metabolic dysregulation, and their relationship to observed symptoms.  Material and methods: An extensive examination of articles published in scientific journals was carried out using online research platforms databases, i.e. PubMed, Google Scholar, using key words contained in ‘Medical Subject Headings’ MeSH in appropriate configurations. Description of the state of knowledge: Published data indicate that prolonged high-altitude exposure impairs cognitive performance, particularly in areas such as attention, memory, and inhibitory control.  These deficits are linked to hypoxia-induced oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction, and structural brain changes.  However, certain cognitive domains, such as perceptual processes and problem-solving abilities, appear to remain relatively unaffected by high-altitude conditions. Conclusions: Prolonged exposure to high altitudes detrimentally impacts cognitive performance. The most significant impairments are observed in psychomotor function and long-term memory. Perceptual processes, inhibitory control, and problem-solving skills are largely preserved. Further research is needed to explore individual variability and long-term adaptations to these environments.

References

1. Zani A, Dishi Y, Proverbio AM. From oxygen shortage to neurocognitive challenges: behavioral patterns and imaging insights. Front Cogn. 2024 Nov 5;3:1468306.

2. Chang Y, Zhang W, Chen K, Wang Z, Xia S, Li H. Metabonomics window into plateau hypoxia. J Int Med Res. 2019 Nov;47(11):5441–52.

3. Berger MM, Luks AM. High Altitude. Semin Respir Crit Care Med. 2023 Oct;44(5):681–95.

4. Storz JF, Bautista NM. ALTITUDE ACCLIMATIZATION, HEMOGLOBIN-OXYGEN AFFINITY, AND CIRCULATORY OXYGEN TRANSPORT IN HYPOXIA. Mol Aspects Med. 2022 Apr;84:101052.

5. Shroff NA, Balbin J, Shobitan O. High-altitude illness: updates in prevention, identification, and treatment. Emerg Med Pract. 2021 Sep;23(9):1–24.

6. Gehner J. Altitude-Related Illness. Emerg Med Clin North Am. 2024 Aug;42(3):527–39.

7. Wright A, Brearey S, Imray C. High hopes at high altitudes: pharmacotherapy for acute mountain sickness and high-altitude cerebral and pulmonary oedema. Expert Opin Pharmacother. 2008 Jan;9(1):119–27.

8. Burns P, Lipman GS, Warner K, Jurkiewicz C, Phillips C, Sanders L, et al. Altitude Sickness Prevention with Ibuprofen Relative to Acetazolamide. Am J Med. 2019 Feb 1;132(2):247–51.

9. Pena E, El Alam S, Siques P, Brito J. Oxidative Stress and Diseases Associated with High-Altitude Exposure. Antioxid Basel Switz. 2022 Jan 28;11(2):267.

10. Luks AM, Beidleman BA, Freer L, Grissom CK, Keyes LE, McIntosh SE, et al. Wilderness Medical Society Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Prevention, Diagnosis, and Treatment of Acute Altitude Illness: 2024 Update. Wilderness Environ Med. 2024 Mar;35(1_suppl):2S-19S.

11. Farzam K, Abdullah M. Acetazolamide. In: StatPearls [Internet]. Treasure Island (FL): StatPearls Publishing; 2025 [cited 2025 Jan 20]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK532282/

12. Kumar R, Chanana N, Sharma K, Palmo T, Lee MH, Mishra A, et al. Dexamethasone prophylaxis protects from acute high-altitude illness by modifying the peripheral blood mononuclear cell inflammatory transcriptome. Biosci Rep. 2023 Nov 30;43(11):BSR20231561.

13. Shlim DR. The use of acetazolamide for the prevention of high-altitude illness. J Travel Med. 2020 Sep 26;27(6):taz106.

14. Toussaint CM, Kenefick RW, Petrassi FA, Muza SR, Charkoudian N. Altitude, Acute Mountain Sickness, and Acetazolamide: Recommendations for Rapid Ascent. High Alt Med Biol. 2021 Mar;22(1):5–13.

15. Zhang H, Zhou QQ, Chen H, Hu XQ, Li WG, Bai Y, et al. The applied principles of EEG analysis methods in neuroscience and clinical neurology. Mil Med Res. 2023 Dec 19;10(1):67.

16. Blacker KJ, McHail DG. Effects of Acute Hypoxia on Early Visual and Auditory Evoked Potentials. Front Neurosci. 2022;16:846001.

17. Beaudin AE, Hanly PJ, Raneri JK, Younes M, Pun M, Anderson TJ, et al. Impact of intermittent hypoxia on human vascular responses during sleep. Exp Neurol. 2022 Jan 1;347:113897.

18. Wong NY, van Waart H, Sleigh JW, Mitchell SJ, Vrijdag XC. A systematic review of electroencephalography in acute cerebral hypoxia: clinical and diving implications. Diving Hyperb Med. 2023 Sep 30;53(3):268–80.

19. Chen Z, Zhang GB, Zhou D, Cheng X, Zhu LL, Fan M, et al. [Effects of acute high altitude hypoxia on EEG power in different emotional states]. Zhongguo Ying Yong Sheng Li Xue Za Zhi Zhongguo Yingyong Shenglixue Zazhi Chin J Appl Physiol. 2020 Nov;36(6):556–61.

20. Chang KS, Chiu YH, Kao WF, Yang CCH, How CK, Lin YK, et al. The changes of electroencephalography in mountaineers on Mount Jade, Taiwan: An observational study. PLOS ONE. 2022 Nov 23;17(11):e0275870.

21. Hüfner K, Caramazza F, Stawinoga AE, Pircher Nöckler ER, Fusar-Poli P, Bhandari SS, et al. Assessment of Psychotic Symptoms in Individuals Exposed to Very High or Extreme Altitude: A Field Study. High Alt Med Biol. 2021 Dec;22(4):369–78.

22. Hüfner K, Falla M, Brugger H, Gatterer H, Strapazzon G, Tomazin I, et al. Isolated high altitude psychosis, delirium at high altitude, and high altitude cerebral edema: are these diagnoses valid? Front Psychiatry. 2023;14:1221047.

23. Garrido E, Hüfner K. An Episode of ‘Third Person’ Phenomenon Involving Somesthetic and Visual Hallucinations in a World-Class Extreme Altitude Climber. Wilderness Environ Med. 2023 Dec;34(4):549–52.

24. Prete G, Bondi D, Mammarella N, Verratti V, Tommasi L. Investigating Auditory Perception at Europe’s Highest Mountain Lodge. Percept Mot Skills. 2023 Jun;130(3):929–37.

25. Nguyen KT, Gates CA, Hassell JE, Foxx CL, Salazar SN, Luthens AK, et al. Evaluation of the effects of altitude on biological signatures of inflammation and anxiety- and depressive-like behavioral responses. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2021 Dec 20;111:110331.

26. Ma HL, Mo T, Zeng TA, Wang Y. [Long-term exposure to high altitude affects spatial working memory in migrants-evidence from time and frequency domain analysis]. Sheng Li Xue Bao. 2020 Apr 1;72(2):181–9.

27. Li L, Zhou Y, Zou S, Wang Y. The Effects of High-Altitude Mountaineering on Cognitive Function in Mountaineers: A Meta-Analysis. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2023 Jan;20(6):5101.

28. Zhang ZA, Sun Y, Yuan Z, Wang L, Dong Q, Zhou Y, et al. Insight into the Effects of High-Altitude Hypoxic Exposure on Learning and Memory. Oxid Med Cell Longev. 2022;2022:4163188.

29. Song R, Tao G, Guo F, Ma H, Zhang J, Wang Y. The change of attention network functions and physiological adaptation during high-altitude hypoxia and reoxygenation. Physiol Behav. 2023 Sep 1;268:114240.

30. Sommer A, Ecker L, Plewnia C. Neural Signatures of Performance Feedback in the Paced Auditory Serial Addition Task (PASAT): An ERP Study. Front Hum Neurosci. 2021;15:630468.

31. Fernández-Quirós J, Lacasa-Cazcarra M, Alegre-Martín J, Sanmartín-Sentañes R, Almirall M, Launois-Obregón P, et al. The Conners Continuous Performance Test CPT3TM: Is it a reliable marker to predict neurocognitive dysfunction in Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome? Front Psychol. 2023;14:1127193.

32. Li Y, Wang Y. Effects of Long-Term Exposure to High Altitude Hypoxia on Cognitive Function and Its Mechanism: A Narrative Review. Brain Sci. 2022 Jun 20;12(6):808.

33. Wang H, Li X, Li J, Gao Y, Li W, Zhao X, et al. Sleep, short-term memory, and mood states of volunteers with increasing altitude. Front Psychiatry. 2022;13:952399.

34. Chamarro A, Rovira T, Edo S, Fernandez-Castro J. Risk Judgments in Climbers: The Role of Difficulty, Meteorological Conditions, Confidence and Appropriate Tools. Leis Sci. 2019 May 4;41(3):221–35.

Downloads

  • PDF

Published

2025-03-03

How to Cite

1.
ZAMIRSKA, Wiktoria, HORNIG, Nadia, KOŁODZIEJ, Aleksandra, CIEPLAK, Aleksandra and CZYŻEWICZ, Zuzanna. The impact of hypoxia on psychological and cognitive functioning in high-altitude climbers. Journal of Education, Health and Sport. Online. 3 March 2025. Vol. 79, p. 58404. [Accessed 7 July 2025]. DOI 10.12775/JEHS.2025.79.58404.
  • ISO 690
  • ACM
  • ACS
  • APA
  • ABNT
  • Chicago
  • Harvard
  • IEEE
  • MLA
  • Turabian
  • Vancouver
Download Citation
  • Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)
  • BibTeX

Issue

Vol. 79 (2025)

Section

Medical Sciences

License

Copyright (c) 2025 Wiktoria Zamirska, Nadia Hornig, Aleksandra Kołodziej, Aleksandra Cieplak, Zuzanna Czyżewicz

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

The periodical offers access to content in the Open Access system under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0

Stats

Number of views and downloads: 294
Number of citations: 0

Search

Search

Browse

  • Browse Author Index
  • Issue archive

User

User

Current Issue

  • Atom logo
  • RSS2 logo
  • RSS1 logo

Information

  • For Readers
  • For Authors
  • For Librarians

Newsletter

Subscribe Unsubscribe

Tags

Search using one of provided tags:

hypoxia, high-altitude climbers, cognitive function, sport
Up

Akademicka Platforma Czasopism

Najlepsze czasopisma naukowe i akademickie w jednym miejscu

apcz.umk.pl

Partners

  • Akademia Ignatianum w Krakowie
  • Akademickie Towarzystwo Andragogiczne
  • Fundacja Copernicus na rzecz Rozwoju Badań Naukowych
  • Instytut Historii im. Tadeusza Manteuffla Polskiej Akademii Nauk
  • Instytut Kultur Śródziemnomorskich i Orientalnych PAN
  • Instytut Tomistyczny
  • Karmelitański Instytut Duchowości w Krakowie
  • Ministerstwo Kultury i Dziedzictwa Narodowego
  • Państwowa Akademia Nauk Stosowanych w Krośnie
  • Państwowa Akademia Nauk Stosowanych we Włocławku
  • Państwowa Wyższa Szkoła Zawodowa im. Stanisława Pigonia w Krośnie
  • Polska Fundacja Przemysłu Kosmicznego
  • Polskie Towarzystwo Ekonomiczne
  • Polskie Towarzystwo Ludoznawcze
  • Towarzystwo Miłośników Torunia
  • Towarzystwo Naukowe w Toruniu
  • Uniwersytet im. Adama Mickiewicza w Poznaniu
  • Uniwersytet Komisji Edukacji Narodowej w Krakowie
  • Uniwersytet Mikołaja Kopernika
  • Uniwersytet w Białymstoku
  • Uniwersytet Warszawski
  • Wojewódzka Biblioteka Publiczna - Książnica Kopernikańska
  • Wyższe Seminarium Duchowne w Pelplinie / Wydawnictwo Diecezjalne „Bernardinum" w Pelplinie

© 2021- Nicolaus Copernicus University Accessibility statement Shop